Elastamom's Excerpts

I am sitting at the table drinking my morning cup of coffee and in walks Gabe with his Under Armour shorts and Detroit Tigers t-shirt and I notice. The softness of his cheeks is disappearing, the roundness of his belly is gone too. He is almost as tall as my Mom and he suddenly looks like he is all arms and legs. We talk about books and friends and the latest PG-13 movie we just watched together.

As we’re laying on the porch reading books, I look over and notice Matthew’s shorts seem to have shrunk two inches and his face looks less little boy and more pre-teen every day. He’s more into Minecraft than Legos. We talk about the book he’s reading and who he wants to have over for a sleepover.

Olivia asks me to turn the radio station to see if we can find a better song. I look in the rear view mirror and almost don’t recognize what I see. Who is the girl with the long lashes and high cheekbones? When did her legs get that impossibly long? We talk about music and movies and what’s going to happen next.

I could look around and get incredibly sad at how fast it’s going. How one day I was wondering how I was going to make it through the day with two babies and now I have three almost teenagers. How one day they were all chubby cheeks and sausage legs and heads full of blonde curls and now they look like they could go hang out at the mall with friends. Sometimes I am wistful for those times when I was more in control, when I was needed more, when they would snuggle and kiss me. But most of the time I remember that some of the best days of our lives haven’t happened yet.

I think about how, God willing, I’ll get to watch them grow and see them change into teenagers and grown-ups and experience all kinds of wonderful things. The truth is, when I remember to think about that, I just can’t wait to watch them grow up. I feel so lucky to be their Mom.

I think everyone should attend a Challenger League baseball game if you can. Especially if you live in a town like mine where playing sports is ultra competitive. It’s easy to lose perspective and get caught up in being the best. But isn’t really all about having fun, getting exercise and learning good sportsmanship? In Olivia’s league, everyone hits, no matter how many pitches it takes. Everyone gets home. Everyone cheers for everyone, even for the opposing team. It makes my heart lighter after I watch her play.

She’s not much for fielding, but she sure likes to hit.

**Grab my button and share what made you happy this week!**

We went to the zoo on Tuesday. As we were passing by the tigers, Gabe shouts out “Richard Parker”!!!! If you’ve seen Life of Pi, you’ll get why we were laughing hysterically.

Olivia in this Hogwarts t-shirt made me smile. Could she be any cuter? And it was on sale from $20 for only $6!!

Gabe needed new shoes and I let him get the expensive pair that he really, really wanted. You should have seen the way his face lit up when I said yes. They are really kick ass shoes.

Matt kept singing this annoying song over and over. I asked him to stop singing it but he kept on singing. Olivia looked at him and said “Are you drunk?” I don’t know where she comes up with these zingers!!! We were practically on the floor laughing so hard.

We decided we’d try for one fun outing, one art/craft project and one science experiment each week this summer. This week we made 2D hands that look 3D. I sat on the porch, coloring with my boys, listening to music and thinking I am the luckiest girl in the world. They turned out pretty cool too!

This. This makes me so happy.

Almost every morning, someone sneaks in with her crazy hair and morning breath and cuddles in my bed. Who wouldn’t be happy seeing this face every morning?

Cherry vodka drinks with a friend you haven’t seen in a while, the songs Blurred Lines and Get Lucky and sleeping in definitely rounded out my week with happy. And we made it through the first week of all 5 of us being home unscathed!!!

What made you happy this week??

***Participating in MamaKat’s Workshop today: 1.) List 6 random facts about you and your husband.

Matt actually agreed to sit and help me with my list today…enjoy!

1.) We generally like the same movies but he rarely likes any TV shows. We agree on Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and Sopranos. That’s it!

2.) We enjoy coming up with funny names. For example, if someone’s last name was “Butts”. He would say “Hairy!” and I would say “Seymour!” and on and on we go.

3.) We often disagree over how to pronounce certain words. Examples: BRA: Me: Braw Matt: Brah Barette: Me: Bar-ette Matt: Brett.

4.) I wanted Henry for Matthew’s name but he was convinced that everyone would call him Hank. I said no one under the age of 50 would ever know that nickname. I lost. He also was worried about the name Gavin because everyone would think of The Love Boat captain’s real name. Do you see what I was dealing with?

5.) We have a roommate agreement just like Sheldon and Leonard on The Big Bang Theory due to my “sensory issues”. Examples from me to Matt are: no whistling, no sniffling, temperature at 70 degrees, sleep past 7 a.m., no clearing of the throat, no scraping of Styrofoam cups with a plastic spoon, no tickling.

6.) We both agree that wearing a Bluetooth is not a good look for anybody. Sorry Bluetooth wearers.

Guess what? Matt has decided that, for the first time since we’ve been together, he is taking the summer off! He’s been a teacher for 12 years now and has NEVER taken the summer off. When he told me this spring that this was his plan, I have to be honest that I didn’t believe him. The man loves to work. Lives to work. Goes crazy without work. But! We’ve had a hellacious year (mostly due to his former job). Now that he has a new job? It’s like I have my old Matt back. He couldn’t be happier and neither could I!

The first two weeks of summer are a huge adjustment for us all, even when he does work. I’m used to getting everyone out the door by 8 a.m. and then working all day. I am alone, I have control of the temperature of the house, the TV, the noise level. Now all of a sudden there are 4 people in my space! Who want food! And playdates! And sleepovers! And more food! And Xbox! And Playstation! And on and on and on. It definitely takes some adjusting.

It’s been awesome so far. I love having Matt home. He does his own thing, and I do mine, but we also do things together when we can. We went to the gym together yesterday. We went to the zoo with the kids today. It’s taken a huge weight off my shoulders too that I’m not the only one responsible for keeping Olivia occupied this summer.

I’ve been telling Matt for a while now that I don’t think he realized how bad his job made him feel. Now that he has a new one, he says he feels like a new person. Do you ever have those moments with your husband where you’re like “I TOLD YOU SO!” It’s like that. I’m just so freaking happy he’s happy and calm and fun again and we have the whole summer to spend together!!!

Olivia had her second baseball game this weekend.

First, she warmed up with Daddy.

At her second at bat, she hit the ball all by herself!

Ok, so I think it was just luck, but we’ll take it!!

Did anything exciting happen at your house this weekend?

**grab my button and share what made you happy this week!**

Olivia had her first baseball game of the season and she did great! She plays in the dirt when she’s in the field but loves to hit. She is also gaga over a boy on her team and she ran up and gave him a hug. It was very cute!

Matt got a new job! In a wonderful district where the kids and parents are nice and, most importantly, the administration is top notch. We are over the moon!

Matthew had a baseball game this week and he got a guy out at second. The kid cried the whole game and refused to eave the base even though he was out. The coach let him stay on base. When Matthew got in the car he said “That was a total rip off! I got that cry baby out!”

Matthew as the Joker after a visit to our local art fairy cracked me up!

This note from Gabe’s teacher made me very happy!

School’s out for summer! I am technically not done until July but Matt and the kids are done. I am so ready!!

Gabe and Olivia had their 5th grade picnic on the last day of school. They celebrated with games and cake at the local park. We gave them each a t-shirt from their new junior high. When each kid was called up, everyone cheered. Olivia wasn’t feeling good that day but really perked up when they called her name. My friend snagged this great shot of Olivia getting her t-shirt. We are so proud of her!!

I am so happy I managed to get teacher gifts, get my grades done, pull off an awesome 5th grade picnic with my friend and survived the week!

What made you happy this week?

Dear Friends,

I wish I could take out my brain, rewind to six years ago, and let you see what was going on in there. It was a flurry of crazy worries and anxious thoughts. I was preparing to send my Olivia to you and I wasn’t ready or sure of what was about to happen. I worried the normal worries: that she would get teased, that she would be left out, that she would be overwhelmed, that she wouldn’t adjust. But I also had big worries that kept me up at night.

Would you see her? I don’t mean would you see her but would you see her?

Would you notice the way her gorgeous brown hair almost twinkles with highlights when she sits in the sun? Would you fall in love with the freckles that splay across her nose? Would you go crazy for the way she laughs with her whole body with her eyes shut and her head thrown back and her mouth open wide? Would you be in awe of her unexpected sense of humor? Would you melt at her caring manner and her loving ways? Would you be able to see beyond her disability and truly see her like I do? Would you be able to love her?

Would you love her? I don’t mean would you like her but would you love her?

She’s not like every other kid. She’s a challenge and tough at times. Would you be able to love her anyway? Would you be able to get past the diapers and messes and fingers in the nose and snot and chewing with her mouth open and drooling and constantly taking her shoes off and naughty words and still love her? Would this be just a job for you or would you really truly love her? Would you be able to care for her like she needed, like she was your own?

Would you know her? I don’t mean know her but would you know her?

Would you know that being silly and funny is the best way to get her to do anything? Would you know that she has to feel loved and safe before she does anything? Would you realize that she is very smart if you just give her time? Would you find out that she loves all things Disney and will do anything for a silly voice or a favorite stuffed animal? Would you discover that she loves to read books and listen to music and dance? Would you understand that she is a wonderful sister? Would you realize how difficult everyday, mundane tasks are to her and not get frustrated when you are teaching her the same thing for the 1000th time? Would you be able to comprehend just how far she’s come and just how much potential she truly has? Would you understand that she is a miracle, a gem, a treasure?

Would you know that she is beloved by us? Would you understand how difficult it was for us to give her to you? Would you welcome her and love her and take care of her and teach her and enjoy her?

After six years, I know all of the answers to these questions to be a resounding shout-it-from-the-rooftops YES! You have seen her, known her and loved her like she was your own. You have been everything I dreamt of and then some. You are a miracle too. We will be forever grateful for your love for our daughter.

This Mom will never, ever be able to say thank you enough.

Take note junior high teachers, you have some mighty big shoes to fill.

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.
–Meister Eckhart

I hope you hear me, I hope you know how much you are loved, and I hope you know I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Fondly,
Olivia’s Mom

It’s cliché but I’m going to say it anyway: It seems like just yesterday Gabe and Olivia were starting Kindergarten. I was freaking out over Olivia moving from pre-school to Kindergarten while staring unbelievingly at Gabe’s little face and wondering where the time went.

Here I am again.

In four short days, Gabe and Olivia are done with elementary school. Done. They are moving on to junior high. Again, I’m bewildered. Where did my little gap-toothed, chubby cheeked guy go who loved Thomas the Train and cuddling with his Mom? Who is this chiseled-faced, handsome teenager who loves soccer, his friends and video games? Where did my tiny lady with missing front teeth and an uneven gait go? Who is this teenaged girl complete with breast buds and pimples and legs as long as a giraffe’s?

I am so happy to see the kids they’ve become. I’m not really sad that they’re not little anymore, it’s just that it’s strange. If these last 6 years went his fast, that means the next 6 will probably go even faster, and in 6 years they’ll graduate! It’s absolutely mind-blowing.

Not to mention that I’m, again, completely freaked out about Olivia’s transition. There will be a new building, all new teachers, new aide, new friends, new everything. She always does better than I imagine, but there’s so much anxiety when thinking about how she’s going to handle it all and, honestly, how I’m going to handle it all. I worry about the kids being nice to her, about the teachers giving her what she needs, about the teachers and aides being kind and loving to her, about her safety…the list is endless.

I worry about Gabe too. Junior high is rough for many kids. It’s such an awkward time in your life. I worry that he’ll have a hard time adjusting too. I especially worry that it will be difficult now that they’re out of their little elementary bubble where everyone grew up with Olivia and she’s no big deal. What if kids make fun of her and he hears it? The list of my worries for him is just as endless.

But then I remind myself that worrying just makes you suffer through it twice and I force myself to stop. The kids are going to junior high. Things will be different. We’ll deal with it like we always do. I just wish time could slow down just a little bit…don’t you?

**forgive the quality of the pictures…my external hard drive died so I had to use lower quality image downloads from Shutterfly until I get the pictures back. Fingers crossed!**

I can’t wait for school to be out so I can sit in the hammock or out on the porch with a glass of lemonade or coffee or wine and read for hours and not feel guilty! How about you? That’s my favorite part of summer: having time to read! I have a list a mile long and can’t wait to dive in.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve read two really good books. The first one was “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls. I found it on a “10 Best Book Club Books” lists on Pinterest. I had no clue what it was about. When I picked it up from the library and saw it was a memoir, I was a little disappointed. Even though I’ve read a couple of really outstanding memoirs (like Unbroken), I kind of wasn’t in the mood. But! This books was amazing! I’m glad I didn’t let the genre deter me. In “The Glass Castle”, Jeannette takes us through a first-person account of what it was like growing up in her very unconventional family. It starts with a bang as a 3-year-old Jeannette recalls her first memory and it’s a doozy: she’s being severely burned while making herself some hot dogs. She’s 3 and boiling hot dogs on the stove…alone! She retells all of her family’s moves from the dessert to California to West Virginia. She recalls being homeless, being hungry and so very poor. She recalls being hurt, being teased, being left alongside of a country road. The crazy part? She tells her story with a lot of love. I was surprised by that. After all her family put her through, you would think she would have so much anger but she really doesn’t. Her memoir reads like fiction. You can’t believe all of these things are happening to this family. Some have disputed whether or not these things actually happened; Walls maintains they did. I enjoyed reading it as a story of strength and perseverance instead of a story of pain and anguish. You really can’t believe everything that happens to this one family. Give it a chance, I did, and I really liked it!

The second book I read was another non-fiction book from the same Pinterest list. Again, I was surprised when I picked it up from the library and discovered it was non-fiction. The book was “The Secret Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. It was the true story of Henrietta Lacks and her stolen cells. In 1950, she died from a very aggressive form of cervical cancer and the doctors at Johns Hopkins took some of her cancer cells without permission (which was common practice at that time). Her cells were amazing; they grew and reproduced like no other. Doctors grew them in a lab, sold them and used them to make many gains in medical research including the Polio vaccine and AIDS research. Her family had no idea that this had happened and when they found out, they were outraged. The book goes back and forth between conversations with Henrietta’s family in the early 2000′s to flashbacks of Henrietta’s life. It wasn’t gripping, and at times it was very scientific and dry, but it was fascinating. The way Henrietta was treated, the way her family was treated, will leave a bad taste in your mouth. I liked it because it was different from anything I’ve ever read. It’s worth a shot!

Oh! I just remembered that I also finished “Notorious Nineteen” by Janet Evanovich. Any Stephanie Plum fans out there? Evanovich needs to wrap up that series right quick. Nineteen was a snoozefest.

Right now I’m in the beginning of “The Smart One” by Jennifer Close and so far it’s really great. It’s total fluff fiction! I’ll let you know how it turns out. What good books have you read lately?